Promotions and misunderstandings
by stfrench
Summary: Danny has difficulty dealing with his feelings when Nicole is made lead CSI on a double murder case. Please review, thanks!


**Title: **Promotions and misunderstandings

**Notes and thanks:** I was dying to write romance involving Danny but could not get my head round to using Stella or Aiden (too much brother/sister in vibe), so creating the character of Nicole allowed me to have a blank canvas to work with.

This is my second fanfic. Your reviews would be really appreciated! Thanks.

Thanks to Helen, Jan, Wendy, Mich, Nico, Mi, Bine, Ode, Caro and the 2 Fines for their advice and encouragement. Luv u, xx.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything related to CSI:NY. Only the character of Nicole is an original creation.

Mac Taylor, followed by Aiden Burn, Danny Messer and Nicole Favreaux, entered the opulent house, in front of which four or five patrol cars were parked. They followed a hallway where some valuable paintings and sculptures were exhibited. The furniture was fine and elegant, a true testimony to the owners' taste, but also to their wealth.

"Wow," said Aiden, looking around her. "Look at how the other half lives."

They entered a first reception room where they were met by a scene of chaos. Detective Don Flack was standing above the body of a woman, who had apparently been shot and had fallen face down on the floor. The wall in front of which she had been standing was covered by a wide spread blood spatter. In her fall, she had broken a display cabinet and now, blood and pieces of glass were scattered all over the crime scene, as well as various porcelain antiques.

Don turned to the group approaching him. "Your vic is Judith Irwin. Her husband, Norman, is over there, not faring much better," he said pointing to a second body which was also face down on the floor, in the doorway leading from the reception room they were all standing in to a formal dining room.

Aiden wrinkled her nose. "Well," she quipped. "I'm all done with the envy."

At that moment, Don yawned widely and noisily.

Mac threw him an irritated look. "Are we keeping you up, Flack?"

The dark haired detective looked embarrassed. "Sorry, Mac. I just wish people would get killed at a more civilised time. Maid found them, she had an early start." This said he walked towards Norman Irwin's body. "Stock trader, big fortune. You don't make many friends in that profession. Anyway, the ME pronounced and the bodies will be removed as soon as you're done."

Danny, Aiden and Nicole all turned to Mac, waiting to be given their instructions. He looked at them and also at Don, who was still standing nearby. "Detective Favreaux is your lead CSI on this one," he said with a nod towards Nicole.

All heads turned to the young woman and she was painfully aware of her burning cheeks. She knew her face had just turned lobster red and right now, her only wish was for the ground to open up and swallow her.

"I want regular update, Nicole," said Mac before leaving the crime scene.

The remaining four stood still for a moment before Don cleared his throat. "OK, I think that's your cue, Nic," he said, walking towards the young woman.

She did not answer immediately for she was busy having a showdown with Danny. She had caught his eyes when Mac had left, and she had been shaken by what she had read in his gaze. _"Whoa!"_ she thought. _"If looks could kill I wouldn't be looking much better that my vics."_ He looked hateful; no, the word was too strong. He definitely looked angry, and hurt and something else she couldn't put her finger on. "Nicole," she corrected absent-mindedly, her eyes still locked with Danny's.

Don shook his head in confusion. "What?"

Nicole snapped back to reality and turned to Don Flack. "I'm sorry but I hate it when people call me Nic. My ex used to call me Nic, hence my not liking it." She did not give Don a chance to add anything. She turned to Aiden and told the young woman: "Go and do a sweep upstairs, see what you can find please."

Aiden looked at Nicole and then at Danny. She didn't know what the hell was going on, but she thought that upstairs, away from those two, probably wasn't a bad place to be. She nodded and then made her way quickly to the stairs.

Nicole's eyes settled on Danny again. She knew perfectly well that he had not stopped looking at her for a second. "You take the husband, I'll take the wife," she told him. She also cursed her nerves when she heard a quiver in her own voice.

Danny blinked rapidly and without a word, he moved towards the other victim. As he walked past her, Nicole felt the tension emanating from his body. Even under his jacket, his neck and shoulders were so stiff, they looked like they were about to snap. Nicole bit her bottom lip and turned to the dead woman on the floor.

Don was still standing next to her. "Big responsibility, a case like this, as a lead CSI. Sure you up for it? It's the first time Mac's let you fly solo."

"Do you know what, Flack?" Nicole said, facing the tall detective with a sarcastic look on her face. "They train us well in Montreal. They show us all the little tricks of the trade: prints, blood spatters, bullets… And do you know what else we got? Running. Hot. Water. It's wondrous, I tell you."

Don laughed and held his hand out to Nicole. "Let me introduce myself," he said, his eyes full of mischief. "Detective Don Flack, all around good guy but a bit of a jerk at 5.00 am, especially before my caffeine hit. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to patronise you."

Nicole tried to look offended but could not keep a straight face. "Alright, alright," she said, laughing and slapping Don's hand away playfully. "You're forgiven, but go drink a cup of coffee already because I don't think I'll be able to put up with you any longer."

She shook her head in mock exasperation and crouched down to the floor. She grabbed the camera, which was hanging from her neck and took several pictures of Judith Irwin's body. She then picked up an antique that had been thrown out of the cabinet and examined it.

"Clarisse Cliff," she said softly.

"What's that, Nicole?" Don enquired, crouching next to the young woman.

"Clarisse Cliff," she replied showing Don the antique she was holding.

"So you're an antiques expert as well as being a CSI?"

Nicole smiled and shook her head. "No but my mom is the collector of the family. I am the food expert and two of my brothers are nuts about old cars."

"Food expert?" Don asked, his left eyebrow rising in a mocking arch.

"Once upon a time I toyed with the idea of becoming a chef."

"What happened to that, then?"

Nicole tilted her head to the side and considered her answer for a moment. "I don't know… This job's better for my waistline? Anyway, get me some bags, will you? We have to collect every single little piece of glass."

"Great!" Don replied sarcastically.

Danny could not concentrate on what he was doing. He heard Nicole and Don laugh, and he had to breathe in deeply to fight the wave of nausea that was threatening to overcome him. Nicole had only been with the team for a few months, and he knew that if Mac was making her lead CSI on this case, a promotion could not be far away for the young woman. In his mind, Danny could still hear Mac say: _"You're off the promotion grid, Danny."_ He looked over to Nicole and Don who were busying themselves collecting evidence. His reaction was unfair and he knew that. Nicole had nothing to do with all this. He had screwed up all by himself, he was the only one to blame.

Aiden and Nicole were standing next to two slabs, which were placed side by side. Dr. Sheldon Hawkes uncovered the first body. "Your first vic, Judith Irwin," he stated. "Fatal gunshot wound to the stomach. It caused massive internal injuries and she haemorrhaged. She is also covered in numerous cuts. Most of them had glass embedded in them."

"She fell through a display cabinet," said Aiden.

Sheldon nodded. "I retrieved all the pieces for you, just in case you fancied a nice jigsaw puzzle."

The two women smiled at him and he moved on to the second body. As he had done with the first one, he removed the white sheet that was covering it. "Norman Irwin," he continued. "Three gunshots wounds to the back." He bent over the body and rolled it onto its side to show the wounds to the two CSIs standing in front of him. "One shot to the shoulder, non fatal. But it must have hurt like hell," he said pointing to the wound. "Second and third shots smack into the middle of his back. These were the deal breaker. Just like his wife, it caused internal injuries and bleeding." Sheldon rolled the body onto its back again.

Aiden pointed at Judith Irwin, then at her husband. "She was shot on the front, and him in the back…" she said slowly.

"He was running away," Nicole said, finishing Aiden's train of thought. "That's why he got shot several times: he was a moving target."

Aiden looked at Nicole. "Think she was shot first?" she asked. "I mean, seeing your wife getting shot in the guts, that's the kind of thing that would make you bolt for the nearest exit."

Nicole nodded slowly then turned her attention back to Sheldon. "Bullets?" she asked.

"Found three," the medical examiner replied. "Two in his abdominal cavity, one in hers. The shot to the shoulder must have been a through and through."

"It was," Aiden confirmed. "Danny retrieved that bullet in a wall at the mansion."

"I have already sent them to ballistics," Sheldon continued, looking at Nicole. "Didn't think you wanted to waste time. Big case for you, this is."

"What do you mean?" she asked him.

"Come on," he replied with a dazzling white smile. "I can smell the promotion all the way from here."

Nicole laughed nervously and shook her head. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves, shall we?" she said. "It's back to the lab for us, Aiden. Thanks, Sheldon"

"Thanks Doc," added Aiden as the two women left the morgue.

Nicole, Danny and Aiden had been working in the lab for more than two hours, sifting through the bags of evidence they had collected at the crime scene. Aiden's stomach was churning from the thick tension she could feel between Danny and Nicole. She was pretty sure that a chainsaw would not be enough to cut through that one. She had breathed a sigh of relief when, earlier on, Nicole had sent her to ballistics to follow up on the bullets. But as soon as she had stepped back into the lab, the heavy atmosphere had closed up on her again. Nicole would have also paid good money to know why Danny seemed so mad at her. _"Was it something I said?"_ she thought. It made even less sense to her as she thought about how close Danny and her had grown. She loved his company, she loved having witty, playful conversations with him, she loved… _"Wow! Hold your horses!"_ she screamed inside. The turn her thoughts were taking threw her in deep panic. _"Never again,"_ she had said, when Nathan had walked out on her when Molly was only four-month old. Despite all this, she had come to realise that her heart would, without fault, skip a beat when Danny entered a room. And she had known she was in deep trouble the day someone had mentioned Danny's name and she had felt the now familiar leap of her heart. _"Goddammit!"_ her brain screamed again. Now she couldn't concentrate at all! She was saved by Mac and Don entering the lab.

"How are we doing?" Mac asked, looking at the mount of evidence laid out on the table.

"We're not," Nicole replied, with a defeated look on her face. "We are drawing a big, fat blank."

Mac looked at Nicole, surprised by her reaction. "What about the bullets?" he asked. Nicole nodded towards Aiden.

"Well, we know they are coming from a .45 calibre Smith and Wesson," Aiden said. "But I got nothing off IBIS. The gun isn't hot and without a murder weapon for comparison, we've pretty much reached a dead end."

"My next move," continued Nicole, "is to look at the couple's finances. We might get luckier there. I can't believe how much evidence we collected and how little we got from it."

"What do you want? Criminals who leave their business cards at the scene?"

Aiden, Don, Mac and Nicole all turned as one person to Danny, who had just spoken up without lifting his eyes from the microscope. Aiden and Don were left speechless. Mac opened his mouth to reprimand his CSI, but was stopped dead in his track when he saw Nicole shaking her head while looking at him intensely. She swallowed with difficulty, as her throat felt really tight. She turned to Aiden. "Keep working on all this, will you?" For the second time today, the quiver in her voice betrayed her mental state. She removed her latex gloves in a rapid movement and left the lab, followed closely by Mac and Don.

Once they were out of the lab, Mac got hold of her arm to stop her from going any further. "I'll speak to him," he told Nicole.

She shook her head again. "With all due respect Mac, no, you won't", she replied. The irritation on Mac's face was all too obvious but she could not let this hinder her. She already had enough on her plate with Danny Messer. "You gave me this case Mac, you must trust me to deal with it… With every aspect of it."

Mac sighed deeply. He knew she was right but his patience with Danny was running very thin. "Fine, you deal with it," he finally said. With these words, he turned around and left. Don and Nicole stood silent for a moment. The dark haired detective turned to the young woman. It looked as though her gaze was following Mac, but Don noticed that tears were starting to well up in her eyes. She was biting her bottom lip and her whole body screamed distress. "Nicole…" he started to say.

She turned to him, blinking rapidly. "I need you to get me the Irwin's financial information," she interrupted him. "Please," she added before walking back to the lab.

Don stood still and sighed, lost in his thoughts.

In the meantime, Aiden had decided that she'd had enough and that she was going to deal with Danny Messer. "What the hell is the matter with you?" she asked in an irate voice.

"I don't know what you're talkin' about," Danny replied, still looking through the microscope, his glasses resting on his forehead.

Aiden groaned in exasperation. Suddenly, she felt the urge to slap Danny senseless. "Oh, you don't know, do ya? What was that all about, you almost biting Nicole's head off? I thought you liked her."

Danny sighed deeply and finally lifted his eyes from the microscope. He placed his glasses back on his nose. "I do. I really do," he said. "It's just… It's complicated."

"Complicated, my ass," Aiden scoffed. She was interrupted as Nicole walked back into the lab. Without looking at Aiden or at Danny, the young woman donned a fresh pair of latex gloves, put a new slide under her microscope and proceeded to study it. Danny turned to Aiden who was looking at him her face full of thunder. The young woman did not speak, but her face said a thousand words. She shook her head in anger and went back to her work. Danny just stood still, then his eyes settled on Nicole. He hadn't meant to upset her. He was in a foul mood and she had borne the brunt of it. He'd hurt her, he knew it and that thought made him feel even worse than he already did.

Nicole was looking for a paper clip in the drawer of her desk and could not find one. Things were definitely not going her way today. She was annoyed… Annoyed at Danny, annoyed at the case that had reached a standstill, annoyed at this elusive paper clip. "Goddammit!" she exclaimed, slamming the drawer shut.

"Wow! That's not very often that we are treated to a temper flare up from our cousin from the North," Don Flack said, sitting on the other side of the desk.

Nicole threw him an irritated look. She was about to add him to her list of grievances. He handed her a folder. "The Irwin's finances, as you asked," he simply said. He'd realised that Nicole was running on a very short fuse and he cared far too much about his personal safety to carry on teasing her. She took the folder from his hand, opened it and glanced at the information silently.

"Err, look, Nicole, about Danny…" he started. She lifted her head from the folder and the look on her face made him think twice about whether he should carry on talking or run for his life.

"What?" she asked, her voice as sharp as a knife. "You here to justify his 'moron extraordinaire' attitude?"

"No, no! He was out of order, I'll grant you that. But it's not personal…"

"Funny. It felt like it," Nicole interrupted him, sarcastically.

Don leant forward onto her desk "A few months before you arrived, Danny was involved into a shooting where a police officer was killed." Don noticed the shift in Nicole's attitude, he had her whole attention. He was not sure whether it was his place to tell her about this, but he felt the need to stand up for Danny. "To cut a long story short, Danny was cleared but he ignored Mac's orders, pissed him off and Mac took him off the promotion grid."

Nicole tilted her head back and a look of realisation spread over her face. "Aww jeez, this case should have been his promotion case," she groaned, tapping the folder in front of her with the tip of her fingers.

"He is not mad at you, Nicole. He's mad at himself. He screwed up big time and he's been trying to atone for it ever since. Danny's just… He's just not very good at dealing with his own emotions. This has nothing to do with you." He caught her look of disbelief. "Listen, if you were still in Montreal, would you be up for this kind of promotion?"

"Yes, I would," replied the young woman.

"There you go then. This is just the normal evolution of your career. Danny… Well, Danny is an altogether different issue." He stood up and nodded towards the folder lying opened on Nicole's desk. "I'll let you have a look at that. Call me when you get something interesting," he said before leaving.

Nicole picked up the folder to resume her reading, but realised that the words were just floating senselessly in front of her eyes. Her shoulders dropped in utter defeat. It was the second time today that the mention of Danny Messer had robbed her of her ability to concentrate on even the simplest of task.

Nicole wasn't paying attention where she was going and neither was Mac. They inevitably collided and Nicole bounced off Mac. To prevent the young woman from falling backwards, Mac had to grab both her forearms to help her keep her balance. It took them both a couple of seconds to recover from the surprise of their collision and find their voice again.

"I was just about to come and see you," they said at the same time.

Mac chuckled and let go of Nicole's arms. "You OK?" he enquired. Nicole nodded. "What did you want to see me for?"

"Erm, I wanted to show you this," said Nicole flicking through the pages of the folder she was holding. When she finally found the information she was looking for, she handed it to Mac.

Mac remained silent while he read. Once he was finished, he handed the folder back to Nicole. "Take Flack with you and go talk to that, umm, Barrie Jenkinson."

"OK", said Nicole as she started to walk away. After only two steps, she remembered that Mac had been looking for her too. She turned sharply to face her boss. "Oh wait! Why did you want me?"

"There's been a shooting in a gym and I have a couple of casualties…"

"No kidding! Who would have thought that exercising could be so bad for your health?"

"Anyway, I am running short of CSIs," Mac continued, ignoring Nicole's interruption. "So I'm taking Aiden off your case to put her on that shooting."

Nicole shot an incredulous look at Mac. "You are taking _Aiden_ off?"

"Yeah. Is there a problem?"

Nicole bit her bottom lip to stop herself from blurting out what was really coming to her mind. "No, no problem at all," she replied dutifully.

"Good. Keep me posted."

Nicole stared after Mac as he walked away. _"Like hell it's fine!"_ she fumed inside. _"I thought I was supposed to be running that case!"_ At that moment, she would have given anything to be a four-year-old again, only to be able to throw the temper tantrum she felt rising in her. She sighed loudly and went on to look for Don.

Danny Messer had decided that it was time he took a break. He had been examining debris that had been hoovered off the floors from the Irwins' mansion and his neck was hurting from being hunched over the big magnifying glass he had been using. He went to the staff room and poured himself a cup of coffee. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around only to find Detective Don Flack looking at him with a glint of amusement in his eyes. Danny scowled at his friend.

"What do you want, Flack?" he asked, "I'm not really in a mood for company right now."

"I like you Danny, you're my friend but you are also one major pain in the ass" Don moved around Danny to go and help himself to a cup of coffee. "I'm looking for Nicole. You remember Nicole? Canadian, pretty?" Don asked sarcastically.

"What the hell do you want, Flack?" Danny exploded. The few officers and detectives who were in the staff room at that time turned their heads towards the raised voice.

"Wow, have I hit a raw nerve, Messer?" When Danny remained silent, Don stepped closer to him, his face looking suddenly serious. "She works hard and she works well. She has nothing to do with this. Don't blow it. She may be the best thing that has happened to you in a while."

Danny's blue eyes locked with Don's. He knew his friend was right.

"I've blown it anyway," he said in a defeated voice.

"Danny!" Don exclaimed. "Stop your goddamn whinging. This is not high school anymore. Talk to her. Grovel if you have to. Don't be an idiot."

"Am I interrupting anything, guys?" a female voice said behind them.

Both men turned around to find Nicole standing a few steps away from them. Without a word, she handed Don the folder containing the Irwins' financials. She had already opened it at the page she had shown Mac only a few minutes ago. As Mac had done, Don read in silence, then looked at the young woman with a smile.

"Well, I do love the smell of embezzlement in the morning," he said.

"Yeah, you and me both. We're off to talk to this guy."

Don set his still full cup on the counter and started for the door. He stopped however and turned around when he noticed that Nicole wasn't following him. Nicole and Danny were standing perfectly still, looking at each other. _"They're not sure whether to jump each other or to shoot each other,"_ Don thought.

"Danny, you're still on Hoover bags duty," said Nicole in a steely voice, before marching out of the staff room. This time, there had been no quiver in her voice.

Barrie Jenkinson was such a small man that he almost disappeared behind his large oak desk. Don and Nicole sat opposite him and gave each other a knowing look: they had both spotted the neat cut on Jenkinson's right cheek.

"Mr Jenkinson, thank you so much for receiving us at such short notice," Nicole started. "I am sure that, by now, you have heard of what happened to the Irwins."

"Yes, of course," Jenkinson said, rubbing his nose. "We have all been shocked by this tragedy."

"Mr Jenkinson, it has been brought to our attention that Norman Irwin lodged a complaint against you with the Traders Watchdog on suspicion of embezzlement."

"Oh dear no," Jenkinson said, looking quickly in turn at Don and Nicole. "This was all a terrible misunderstanding." He rubbed his nose again, then pressed his hand together and rested his forearms on his desk in front of him. "A few figures didn't tally, and it was all blown out of proportion. I spoke to Norman after looking into it and… A simple misunderstanding."

"Where were you last night at about 10, Sir?"

"At home, going through some paperwork…"

"Anybody can vouch for this?" Don interrupted.

"Well… I live alone. Since my divorce I lived on my own."

"Mr Jenkinson, where did you get that cut on your cheek?" Nicole enquired.

Jenkinson quickly brought his right hand to his cheek and chuckled nervously. "Oh, this? I was in a rush this morning and I cut myself shaving."

Nicole nodded and made no further comment.

"Did you know if anybody would have wanted to harm Mr and Mrs Irwin?" Don continued.

"No, no. Our job is very stressful and competitive but… No."

Nicole and Don glanced at each other and then, stood up.

"Thank you very much for your time, Mr Jenkinson," said Nicole, holding her hand out to the small man. "We may need to contact you again, if we need further information."

Jenkinson stood up and shook Nicole's hand. "Of course, of course," he said emphatically. "I do hope you will findwho committed such a horrendous crime."

"Oh we always do, Sir," replied Don, as he and Nicole left the office.

Once outside, the two detectives each stood on either side of the car, rested their crossed arms on the roof and looked at each other.

Don shook his head, his eyes opened wide in disbelief. "Boy, was he shifty or what? He lied to us from start to finish. I don't believe for one minute that the embezzlement accusations were a misunderstanding."

"He was lying to us alright. He kept touching his nose, too, trying to hide his face. That's a clear-cut sign of dishonesty. Also, his hand was all clammy when I shook it. He was really panicky. I particularly liked that cut on his cheek," Nicole said, pointing to her own right cheek.

Don shook his head once more. "Oh yeah, shaving cut, my ass! I like him a lot for these murders. My gut feeling tells me he had a very good motive, and possibly means and opportunity."

"Oh yeah, I'm with you on that one but I'm pretty sure gut feeling doesn't cut it in court," replied Nicole with a chuckle. "Do you think what we have is enough for a warrant to search his house?"

"I doubt it very much."

"Well, we do have one thing," Nicole said pointing at her right cheek again. She flipped her mobile phone open and dialled a number. "Danny?" she said in the phone. "I think we may have a second bleeder at the crime scene. Start swabbing and sampling the glass from the display cabinet and all the pieces from the antiques. Don and I are on our way to the mansion to collect blood samples from the scene."

Don and Nicole sat in the car, with Don behind the steering wheel. He started the car and Nicole rested her head back against the headrest.

"Oh man," she groaned. "There was a lot of glass and a lot of blood at that scene."

"Well you'll be popular with the DNA lab technicians (!)"

Nicole and Danny stood in front of Doctor Giles' desk like two school kids called to the principal's office for a reprimand.

"You have certainly kept the DNA lab very busy, Detective Favreaux. 43 samples from the scene, 58 from the glass. You're very thorough, I'll grant you that," Doctor Giles said "All your samples were consistent with your female vic, Judith Irwin." Nicole and Danny's faces simultaneously crumpled in defeat. "All but one," he continued with a furtive smile. "It came back as an unknown male. I checked the husband, he wasn't a match. Give me something to compare it with and you'll have your second bleeder."

"We got him," Nicole said.

"Hold it, hold it," said Danny. "All we have is a sample from an unknown male donor."

Nicole gave him a knowing look. "That's not a problem," she said confidently.

Nicole handed Barrie Jenkinson a small paper cup filled with water. She then sat in front of him.

"I am sorry about the heat, Mr Jenkinson. I think we are experiencing trouble with our air conditioning."

Jenkinson took a sip of water and shook his head. Nicole threw a quick glance to her left at the one way mirror behind which Don and Danny were observing them. "I want to thank you again for coming in. The NYPD appreciates your co-operation in this investigation."

"Not at all, not at all," Jenkinson replied. "One must always perform his civic duties."

"That's very true, Sir. Mr Jenkinson, would you happen to know if Norman Irwin mismanaged any of his accounts? We think he might have lost a lot of money on one or several of his accounts and that, maybe, some of his clients were looking for revenge."

The man shook his head. "No, no. Norman was very good at his job. I really… No."

"That's fine, really. We are just trying to establish a motive here… Find some new leads."

"I am sorry I couldn't be of any more help," Jenkinson said, standing up to leave.

"Thanks again for your help Sir," Nicole said, watching the small man leave the room. A few seconds later, she retrieved a latex glove from her pocket, put it on and grabbed the paper cup Jenkinson had just drunk from. Don and Danny walked into the room and both grinned at Nicole's triumphant expression.

For the second time today, Danny and Nicole were standing like two peas in a pod in front of Dr. Giles' desk.

"I am about to become your new best friend," said the scientist. "Your unknown male sample from the crime scene matched the sample from the paper cup."

Two broad smiles instantly appeared on the faces in front of him. "_Now_ we got him," said Danny.

"You lied to us, Mr Jenkinson," Nicole said.

The small man looked at the detective in front of him. This time however, she was not smiling. He gulped and ran his hand on his forehead.

"You did not cut yourself shaving," Nicole continued. "And the embezzlement accusations were not 'a terrible misunderstanding'."

She laid a few sheets of paper in front of Jenkinson. She pointed at the first one, which showed the broken display cabinet at the Irwins. "This is a photo of the crime scene. Mrs Irwin fell through this display cabinet when she got shot. We recovered every single piece of glass from that cabinet. They were all covered with Mrs Irwin's blood, apart from one." She then pointed at the second and third pieces of paper, the results from the DNA analysis Dr. Giles had performed on the chard of glass and on the paper cup. "The blood from that sample was from a man who was not Mr Irwin. It was yours, Mr Jenkinson."

"I… I don't understand," Jenkinson stuttered.

"The paper cup you drank the water from. Saliva contains DNA. Your trash, our evidence. The accusations of embezzlement were founded. I am sure you tried to get Norman Irwin on your side but he refused, didn't he? So you went to his house armed and with the firm intention to deal with him once and for all. You obviously disposed of the weapon very carefully because we couldn't find anything when we searched your home. But this is irrelevant now. When Mrs Irwin fell through the display cabinet, a small piece of glass came flying at you and cut you on the cheek leaving a small blood sample behind. The only way this could have happened is if you were standing in front of her when she got shot. That little piece of glass with your blood on it places you at the crime scene and identifies you as the shooter."

Barrie Jenkinson looked around him, like a trapped animal. Beads of sweat were now rolling from his forehead. "I… I want a lawyer!" he said, his voice quivery from panic.

Aiden and Don were almost scrambling over each other to see what was happening in Mac's office. Don lost his balance and almost knocked Aiden over.

"Flack!" she exclaimed, slapping the tall detective on the shoulder. "We are spying here! Could you please try to be a little more inconspicuous?"

"You kiddin' me, right?" Don scoffed. "If I let you, you'd climb on my shoulders to get a better view!"

"Wait!" Aiden said, holding onto his arm. "Nicole is smiling."

"Smiling's good. Is Mac smiling?"

"They're coming out!" squealed the young woman. They both ran back to Aiden's desk and sat down in a hurry. They were still trying to catch their breath when Nicole approached them.

"So… Is it good news or is it good news?" Don asked.

Nicole's smile grew wider.

"CSI Level 3! This calls for a celebration," Don exclaimed, standing up quickly. "My two favourite girls and me… Whadda ya say?"

"Count me in," Aiden said happily. "Nicole?"

"I don't want to be a party pooper but it'll have to be a quick fruit juice for me," Nicole replied laughing at her friends' enthusiasm. "I still have to go and pick Molly up at her childminder."

"Not a problem," Don said, putting one arm around Nicole's shoulders and the other around Aiden's and leading them outside. "We'll get you a non alcoholic cocktail… Something cute, with a little umbrella!"

Danny stepped into his flat and threw his keys on a little table in the hallway. The keys missed the table and fell onto the floor with a jingling sound. Danny looked at them but didn't pick them up. He went into his kitchen and retrieved a bottle of beer from his fridge. He opened it, started sipping the beverage and let his mind wander. His thoughts always came back to Nicole. He had left the station quickly after they had wrapped the case. He was sure that the office grapevine would function to perfection and that the news of Nicole's promotion would come back to his ears. He went into his lounge, removed his jacket and threw it on his sofa where he then slumped heavily. He rested his head back and closed his eyes. The conversation he had had with Don in the station staff room echoed in his mind. He knew that this promotion could have been his, if only he had listen to Mac at the time of the Minhas shooting. As in so many occasions in the past, he had felt alone and unsupported. This was exactly how he felt now but this time, it was from his own doing. He suddenly leaned forward and slammed his bottle of beer noisily on the coffee table in front of him. He rested his elbows on his knees and ran his fingers through his short, dark blond hair. He needed to talk to Nicole, he knew that much. He cared far too much for her to let the situation fester. He jumped to his feet, his mind racing with a hundred thoughts and practically ran to his bedroom to get changed. He quickly threw a pair of jeans and T-shirt on and dashed out of his flat before he had time to change his mind.

Danny had been sitting in his car for the past ten minutes, trying to muster the courage to walk to Nicole's front door. She had moved into a new house only a few weeks previously and she had roped Danny and Don in to do the heavy lifting, while Aiden and her had carried the lightest items, which of course had got them jeers from the two men. _"At best, she'll slam the door in your face for being an ass,"_ he thought. _"At worse, she'll slap you first and then slam the door in your face!"_ Danny sighed heavily and wrapped his fingers tightly around the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white. Why would she want to talk to him? He had been awful to her! He sighed again and realised that, although he hated to admit it, Don was right, he'd have to show some guts and speak to her. Danny honestly thought that he would have rather faced a dozen hard-nosed criminals armed to the teeth than face Nicole Favreaux.

Molly stroked the soft brown and white fur of the little hamster she was holding in her hands then wistfully looked at her mother. "Can Tournesol sleep in my bedroom tonight?"

"Absolutely not, Molly. I like Tournesol very much but he sleeps in the study. Ten more minutes, Molly. Then it's bed time and I mean it," Nicole said over her shoulder as she walked out of her study.

The little girl threw her mother a _'yeah, yeah, whatever'_ look and turned her attention back to her little pet. Nicole rolled her eyes exasperated and went to the kitchen in order to finish tidying the remains of their dinner. Molly had hardly touched her food. She had been in such a rush to go and play with her hamster that she had been unable to still sit at the table and she had moaned and whined her way through dinner. Sulkily, Nicole thought that maybe, she would have been better inspired by going for a goldfish.

As she cleared the table and put the dishes into the dishwasher, she smiled at the recollection of Don and Aiden, whom she had left just a few hours earlier. Her friends had been more excited about her promotion than she had been. And they were still in full celebration mode when she had left them to pick Molly up from her childminder. _"Well, at least they'll have a few drinks for me,"_ she thought, shaking her head, her smile still hovering on her lips.

When she heard the knock on her front door she hoped, for their own sake, that it wasn't door-to-door salesmen. Although Aiden and Don had cheered her up, she was still annoyed at how things had been left with Danny. She hated unresolved issues. She had enough of those in her past and she really didn't feel the need to start filling her present with new ones. At the moment, Molly and Tournesol were just about the only breathing and living creatures her mood allowed her to put up with. So it was with great surprise that she saw Danny Messer standing on her doorstep when she looked through the peephole. _"Damn!"_ She hadn't mentally prepared herself to be faced with Danny so quickly. She felt flutters in her stomach and she had lost her grasp on any coherent thoughts. _"Damn, this is prom night all over again!"_

She opened the door tentatively as if afraid that something might jump at her. She stared at Danny and felt only slightly relieved that he looked as awkward as she did.

"Hi," Danny said, his voice barely above a whisper. That's all he could manage. After that his mind went blank.

Nicole bit her bottom lip and opened her door wider to allow Danny to come in. She hadn't expected the words that came out of her mouth next to sound so abrupt.

"I've been promoted to CSI Level 3."

Danny turned around as if slapped by her words, but he was simply relieved she had said something to him. "I thought as much. Congratulations."

Nicole closed the door and walked the few steps that were separating her from Danny. She stood in front of him, in this resolute manner that he admired in her. She always walked with her back straight and her head held up. Her attitude demanded a respect that people gave her instinctively. She had often reminded him of a figurehead. She looked at him straight in the eyes and it wasn't the first time he felt as if she could read his mind.

"Somehow I feel that I should apologise for it, Danny." The young man lowered his head and shook it. "But I won't because I shouldn't. I shouldn't say sorry for doing my job well and for being rewarded for it."

When Danny remained silent, she held her hand out and softly stroked his cheek. She lightly cupped his chin with her hand and forced him to look up. His eyes were as light as hers were dark and Nicole was rocked to the core by what she saw in his gaze. He looked at her in earnest but beyond this, she could see a certain hopelessness that someone as young as Danny should not be experiencing. She was overwhelmed by the feeling that the reasons for Danny's instinctive, raw and sometimes reckless attitude went far beyond the shooting Danny had been involved in.

"Let me go and put Molly in bed and then we'll talk. I don't know about you but I need a drink. I have a bottle of white wine in the fridge, corkscrew on the counter, glasses in the overhead cabinet. I won't be long."

Danny looked at her walk away. She was dressed in a black top and trousers and her feet were bare. Her steps were light and she moved gracefully like a ballerina. He went to the kitchen to look for the wine. The room was massive, light and bright. Nicole had once said to Danny that she loved cooking and this was reflected in the way she had organised and decorated the kitchen. It was airy but also inviting, the true hub and heart of her home. There was a solid wood dining table that would have not looked out of place in a country kitchen and the wall behind the table was used as an exhibition area for Molly's artworks. He suddenly heard Nicole's voice rise in the silence of the house. "Say goodnight to Tournesol, Molly. I mean business now. Time for bed!" Although Danny did not hear the little girl's reply, he could have bet it wasn't a happy one. He retrieved the bottle of white wine from the fridge then looked around on the counters for the corkscrew. He finally found it in a glass jar filled with numerous kitchen utensils and he opened the bottle before going on the hunt for glasses.

Almost fifteen minutes later, Nicole came back downstairs after putting Molly into bed. The little girl had passionately argued that, as it was his first night in his new house, Tournesol would probably get scared and that he would feel much safer if he was allowed to sleep in her bedroom. Nicole had remained firm but inside, she was smiling at her daughter's cunning and determination. In their case, the apple hadn't fallen far from the tree. She found Danny sat at the kitchen table, waiting for her patiently. He had poured two glasses of wine and Nicole noticed that he had been waiting for her before starting drinking.

"Sorry it took so long, Danny. We were having a lively debate upstairs." Nicole shook her head and smiled. "We have adopted a new pet hamster and I have found it very difficult to pry Molly away from it tonight!"

"Don't worry, I understand." Danny rested his elbows on the table, interlaced his fingers and rested his chin on them. He remained silent for a moment while Nicole took a sip of the wine, and her face broke into a very satisfied expression. _"Good choice!"_ she thought. She suddenly became aware of Danny's eyes on her and she looked at him, waiting for him to speak. The young man cleared his throat and started swirling the wine in his glass. This small movement helped him gather his thoughts.

"When I said congratulations for your promotion," he started, "I meant it. I did. I worked with you enough times to know that you always do a great job. I can't think of anybody more deservin' of it than you."

"Thanks. So… Why the attitude?" Nicole knew why but she wanted Danny to say it aloud. He was high strung about it and talking would do him good.

Danny chuckled and took a long sip from his glass. Dutch courage was as good as any.

"I don't know… I…" He removed his glasses and holding them by one arm, he pressed the bridge of his nose between the thumb and middle finger of his right hand. He shut his eyes tightly. Although her whole body wanted to stand up and hold Danny in her arms, Nicole resisted her impulse and she remained still, waiting patiently for him to open up to her.

"I made a mistake," Danny continued putting his glasses back on. "I made a lotta mistakes and I got myself into a lotta trouble. I was due for a promotion too but I… I screwed up. Everybody thought I'd shot a cop dead. I just needed to defend myself. I knew I hadn't done anything wrong… Well, at least I thought I hadn't."

He leaned forward and rested his forearms on the table. He looked at Nicole and suddenly felt immensely grateful he was with her. She was looking at him seriously, for she was concentrating on what he was telling her. But there wasn't a hint of judgement in her eyes, just understanding.

"A few months ago, I followed a perp into a tube station and he shot at me… Well at least I thought he did. So I shot back and he went down. Turned out he was an undercover NYPD officer called Rodney Minhas. Also turned out my bullet went into his shoulder. The shot that killed him had happened earlier on. Mac collected all the evidence that cleared me but one of the two rounds I fired was never recovered. And to make matters worse, I ignored Mac's orders and went to talk to IAB even though he'd expressly told me to keep my mouth shut… I went and talked to 'em anyway. Mac took me off the promotion grid…"

Danny bowed his head and sighed heavily. Nicole covered his hand with hers and gave him a small, comforting squeeze. For a fleeting moment, he felt he could have told her everything that was weighing on his mind. But his heart starting thumping painfully in his chest at this thought. No. This was too much. He would die if he ever saw disappointment in her eyes, especially if he was the cause of it. Certain things were better left buried in the past where they belonged.

"Everybody makes mistakes Danny," Nicole said softly. "Everyone is fallible. None of us are perfect, not even Mac. Don't get me wrong, I respect the hell out of this guy. But he is only human and if he hasn't made a mistake yet, he will. It isn't a question of 'if', but a question of 'when'."

"What was your mistake?"

Nicole laughed nervously and leaned back in her chair. "Ah, ah, my mistake… Falling in love with the wrong man. Ignoring all the signs and the _very_ big red flags on the way… But also ignoring my loved ones' advice and resenting them for it." Nicole downed the rest of her glass and poured herself more wine. She also took this opportunity to top Danny's glass up. "When I met Nathan, it was a whirlwind romance. We fell in love quickly and moved in together quickly. He seemed pretty resentful of the fact that I wanted a career. That should have been a hint. But love is blind… And sometimes downright dumb. When we had Molly, he seemed overjoyed at first but after a few months, he decided that he wasn't cut out for fatherhood… His words, not mine… And he walked out on us. I never heard from him again. A couple of years back, I sued him for Molly's full custody. He never contested it. He even signed a document renouncing his paternal rights over her. That's the man I'd madly fallen in love with. How blind had I been? But let's give him his dues: without him, I wouldn't have Molly and this, I'll always be grateful for. So there, my mistake." She raised her glass and looked at Danny, a smile on her face. "To our mistakes, past and future. To what they teach us and how they shape us into the people we become."

Danny smiled back at the young woman and clinked his glass with hers.

"Hear, hear!" He took a long sip and looked at Nicole again. "Thank you."

"What for?"

"For listening to me, for letting me blow some steam. Most people wouldn't be talkin' to me after the way I behaved."

"Ahhh, but I'm not most people Danny. I raise a child and a hamster on my own! It takes a lot to faze me and I also have the patience of a saint!"

Danny leaned back in his chair and burst out laughing. He hadn't felt this good or this comfortable with someone in a long time, and he knew it wasn't just the wine that gave him this warm feeling inside. He saw a glint of mischief sparkle in Nicole's eyes.

"What?" he asked, wondering what wicked idea was going through the young woman's head.

Nicole turned around and seemed to look for something. "I think… I think I have another bottle of something somewhere that's probably begging to be drunk."

"I drove here Nicole."

Nicole pondered this for a second. "If I say you can crash in my spare bedroom, I'm sure you'll be gentleman enough not to leave me to drink on my own…"

"Where's that bottle?" he said looking around in a mock frenzy.

Nicole laughed heartily and stood up to look for more wine. Danny leaned back in his chair and sighed with satisfaction. At this precise moment in time, there was nowhere else in the world he would rather be than here.

The end.


End file.
